Along an assembly line, various types of articles, such as for example, diapers and other absorbent articles, may be assembled by adding components to and/or otherwise modifying an advancing, continuous web of material. For example, in some processes, advancing webs of material are combined with other advancing webs of material. In other examples, individual components created from advancing webs of material are combined with advancing webs of material, which in turn, are then combined with other advancing webs of material. In some cases, individual components created from advancing web or webs are combined with other individual components created from other advancing web or webs. Webs of material and component parts used to manufacture diapers may include: backsheets, topsheets, leg cuffs, waist caps, absorbent core components, front and/or back ears, fastening components, and various types of elastic webs and components such as leg elastics, barrier leg cuff elastics, stretch side panels, and waist elastics. Once the desired component parts are assembled, the advancing web(s) and component parts are subjected to a final knife cut to separate the web(s) into discrete diapers or other absorbent articles.
In some converting configurations, discrete chassis spaced apart from each other are advanced in a machine direction and are arranged with a longitudinal axis parallel with the cross direction. Opposing waist regions of discrete chasses are then connected with continuous lengths of elastically extendable front and back belts advancing in the machine direction. While connected with the chassis, the front and back belts are maintained in a fully stretched condition along the machine direction. As such, the positions of the advancing chassis and associated belts can be controlled more easily to allow for more accurate registration and phasing of subsequent converting operations, such as folding, seaming, and cutting. However, introducing discrete elastically extendable components in one or both of the waist regions presents a different challenge with regard to maintaining control and positioning of the advancing discrete elastically extendable components relative to other components, such as an article chassis, can be difficult. For example, when manufacturing refastenable diaper pants with chassis connected with discrete lengths of elastically extendable panel material disposed in one or both waist regions, some processes utilize a sheet that interconnects the discrete lengths of extendable panel material together during manufacturing, and in turn, enhances the ability to control the advancing components. The sheet is included as part of the manufactured diapers and must be removed by the user before using the refastenable features of the diapers. However, including such a removable sheet on manufactured diaper pants may have a negative impact on costs and aesthetics.